


New Beginnings

by cc tinslebee (Doitlikeagreaser)



Series: The Redemption of Ryan Howard [2]
Category: The Office (US)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Athleap/Athlead, Character Development, Children, Children of Characters, Developing Relationship, F/M, M/M, Married Life, Multi, No beta we die like Deangelo, Polyamory, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doitlikeagreaser/pseuds/cc%20tinslebee
Summary: There were five things Jim and Pam Halpert never expected to come out of Ryan Howard living with them.(Or: Five things Jim and Pam didn’t expect to come out of living with Ryan Howard and one thing Ryan didn’t expect.)
Relationships: Drake Howard & Pam Beesly, Drake Howard & Ryan Howard, Jim Halpert/Ryan Howard, Pam Beesly/Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly/Jim Halpert/Ryan Howard, Pam Beesly/Ryan Howard
Series: The Redemption of Ryan Howard [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674481
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cutie_Ratootie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cutie_Ratootie/gifts).



> Just wanted to quickly apologise to the inspiring, Cutie_Ratootie for taking far too long to post this. As seen from the tags, I haven’t exactly proofread the last part of this, but I hope to some other time. This series is far from finished, so stay tuned!  
> In addition, if you liked this, please leave a kudos. Comments are much appreciated, but please keep it positive/constructive!

There were five things Pam and Jim didn't count on when they invited Ryan Howard to live with them in Austin.

  1. Drake Howard



Pam never expected that she was going to get an adopted son out of the arrangement.

It was a quiet evening for the Halperts in their new Austin home. It was Jim's turn to read to Cecelia and Phillip before bed, so he was doing that upstairs. Meanwhile, Pam was sitting quietly on the living room couch, sipping a small glass of wine next to Ryan, who was cradling Drake lovingly. The two sat there in silence as Pam nursed her drink.

Ryan carefully looked at Pam. "Would you like to hold him?" he asked, quietly.

Pam looked up from her glass, mildly surprised, "Oh, sure."

She put her glass down on the table in front of the couch before Ryan carefully handed Drake off to her.

Pam adjusted the baby Drake in her arms so he would be comfortable and looked down at him with as much wonder and enamorment as she did the day she saw him for the first time. 

"He's... a really cute kid," she breathed, her gaze not leaving the tiny child.

"Yeah," Ryan replied, softly.

Pam waited a moment before carefully looking up to Ryan, "Would you... tell me about his mother?"

Ryan shrugged, his hands in his lap, "Sure. What do you want to know."

She shrugged in response, "Anything you're willing to tell me, I guess."

Ryan thought for a moment, "Her name was Christine. I met her while I was in Ohio. She wasn't... a bad person. She just wasn't a _good_ person either. She went out for a charger to her E-cigarette one day when Drake was about a month old and she just... never came back. I knew she wasn't thrilled about having Drake; the fact that I don't even know if I'm his actual father tells you that he wasn't exactly planned. I had a feeling she was going to leave that day. WHen you run away from things your entire life, you sort of get a feeling when those things are about to happen."

Pam's eyes widened a bit in realisation, "That's why you were so determined to get him back."

Ryan nodded, "Yeah. I mean, I haven't been there for a lot of people and people haven't really been there for me. But whether he's actually my son or not, it's my responsibility to be there for him. "

Pam nodded her head, taking it all in. "I think that's really brave of you, Ryan."

"Thanks," he replied, smiling a little. He looked back over to them, "Did you want me to take him back?"

Pam looked from Ryan to the baby Drake. "Could I... hold him for a little longer?" she asked.

"Sure. I trust you, Pam," Ryan said. He stands up and gestures upstairs. "Is it okay if I check on Cece and Phillip?"

"Would you? That would be great," Pam smiled.

Ryan nodded and started going upstairs.

Pam continued to hold Drake for a while, admiring the small child that was only a little younger than her own son. Maybe it was that maternal instinct that made her so drawn to Drake Howard, seeing as his own mother abandoned him. She faintly hears Ryan and Jim upstairs with the children, but she almost doesn't notice when Jim comes downstairs.

Jim leaned over Pam's shoulder, "Should I tell Ryan that he's not going to get his kid back anytime soon?"

Pam laughed lightly, "No, that's okay. Do you want to hold him?"

Jim looked from Drake to Pam in consideration. He shrugged and made his way around the couch, "Sure."

He sits down next to Pam and she carefully passes Drake over to him. 

Jim cradles Drake like he does Phillip and looks at him for a moment. "He's kind of cute," he admitted.

Pam smiles, "Right?"

  1. Athlead



Jim never expected Ryan's work ethic to change because of this.

Jim and Ryan stepped out of the car and began to approach the Austin Athlead building. Upon the Halperts and Ryan moving to Austin, Jim had started working almost immediately, helping to get Athlead get situated with the change, while Ryan helped Pam with unpacking and getting them settled into the house. Now that Athlead was ready for a change in employees, Ryan was ready to start working there.

Jim turned to Ryan, "You ready?"

Ryan nodded, a little breathlessly, "Yeah."

As they entered the building, they were almost immediately met with Darryl seeing them.

"Hey, Jim!" Darryl pulled Jim in for one of those bro-hugs. When he pulled away, he seemed to register that Ryan was there, "Hey, man."

"Hey," Ryan tried to smile, but felt a bit uneasy and it showed. He knew that Darryl didn't like him that much and he could hardly blame him.

Jim seemed to pick up on this and patted Ryan's carefully on the back, "So, you ready for your first day at the job?"

"Yeah, actually, I am," Ryan replied, a little more confidently. He pauses, "What happened to your last receptionist?"

"She went back to Philly," Darryl answered, a little more good-naturedly. "She was a part of the team sent here to help the branch in the first six months."

Ryan nodded, slowly, "So, this job..."

"Is all yours," Jim grinned. He quickly shrugged, nonchalantly, "If you want it."

Ryan smiled slightly and added, cheekily, "We'll see."

"Let's show you to your desk then," Darryl suggested.

He brought them over to a nice looking black desk with red trimming. It's big enough to resemble Pam's old desk, but it looks more contemporary. 

"So what do you think?" Jim asked, expectantly.

Ryan nodded, awed, "I like it."

"Great." Darryl looked at his watch, "Look, I gotta go, but good luck, man." He gives a small, closed-lipped smile Ryan's way -- who nods in thanks -- before he runs off.

Jim checks the clock behind him, "I should probably go too. But I'll see you for lunch?"

Ryan nods, "Sure thing, Jim."

"Issac'll be over shortly to show you the ropes."

"Got it."

Jim chuckled, "All right, I'll get out of your hair. Good luck!"

"Thanks, Jim!" Ryan shouts as Jim jogs off.

Come lunch time, Jim came back over to Ryan's desk. "You ready?" he asked him.

"Yeah, just give me a second," Ryan replied, preoccupied with typing something on his computer.

Jim leaned his arms on the top of the desk as he watched Ryan typed. Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he leaned over further causally to see what Ryan was doing. To his surprise, he sees Ryan diligently organising the computer's calendar, colour-coding each appointment in correspondence to the nature of the visit.

"Well, color me impressed," Jim grinned.

Ryan looked up, seemingly unaware of what he had said, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing." Jim smiled, "You're doing really well."

"Thanks," Ryan said, returning his gaze to the computer.

Jim likewise returned to casually leaning his arms on the desk, "How were things with Issac?"

"Oh, he didn't show up."

" _Seriously?_ "

Ryan nodded, "But Drake Johnson was generous enough to lend me a hand." He smiled, subconsciously, "When he introduced himself after helping me out, I told him that was my son's name. He seemed to appreciate the irony."

Jim smiled, proudly, "Seems like you guys hit it off."

"Yeah." He hits a few last keys and then 'enter' before turning his chair to face Jim, "All right, I'm ready."

Jim shoved his arms off of the desk and moved out of Ryan's way, "Let's go get some lunch then."

Ryan exited his desk and they began walking out.

"You know it was kind of tough working for Dunder Mifflin," Ryan admitted as they walked. "I spent eight years at that company and no matter how long I was there or what position I was in, I couldn't seem to get rid of that stupid nickname. 'Temp.' No one really wanted to admit that I was going to be there for a while, least of all me. After a while, I just kind of accepted that I was temporary. This, though... this feels different."

Jim smiled softly to himself, "I'm glad you feel that way."

  1. Change



Pam didn't expect that Ryan would learn to consider others before himself.

It was another night where it was Jim's turn to read to the kids and Pam was drinking a small glass of wine with Ryan on the couch. It had sort of become a little routine for them to do this after a while. Ryan didn't drink anymore -- not heavily, at least -- but they had established earlier on that he was okay with Pam doing it in moderation around him.

"So, I never really asked you what your plan is now that you and Jim -- and I guess me too -- live down here in Texas," Ryan mentioned.

Pam shrugged, "Nothing other than taking care of the kids, I guess."

"That sucks," Ryan said, honestly.

Pam laughed, "Yeah, but Jim put off a lot to support my dreams, so I wanted to return the favor."

Rya shrugged, "That's fair, I guess." He paused for a moment before speaking again, "What do you _want_ to do, though?"

"Mayne get back into doing murals," Pam admitted, shrugging. "I really enjoyed doing that, spare the vandalism."

Ryan nodded, "That would be nice."

"It would," Pam agreed. "Problem is, it took me such a long time to find a place to do that in _Scranton_. Trying to find that kind of work in Austin is like going from a pond into a lake without a paddle."

"O...kay?" Ryan trailed, confused by the metaphor.

"What I'm trying to say is that if it took me a while to find mural related work in Scranton, it'll take forever to find a place in Austin that will have me," Pam explained. "I can't exactly get anywhere if I don't have a startup, and I can't have a startup if no one will have me."

"Right."

Pam smiled slightly, "This has actually been therapeutic. Thanks, Ryan."

"Anytime," he replied. She noticed it looked like there were some gears turning in his head, but she didn't say anything about it.

The next day, Jim and Ryan came home from work a little chirper than they usually were.

"You looked excited," Pam remarked, playfully.

Jim grinned, "Ryan's got some news."

Pam smiled, "Yeah?"

Jim turned to Ryan and nodded, "Go ahead."

Ryan beamed, brimming with excitement, "So, I talked to Drake today."

Pam laughed softly, "I didn't realize he could talk yet."

Ryan smiles, "Not _my_ Drake. Drake Johnson, from Athlead. He's sort of the office administrator there now. So, I spoke to him today and _potentially_ having a mural done at the headquarters..." he pauses for effect, "And he said yes!"

Pam lit up, "Seriously? That's amazing, Ryan!"

"I told him I knew just the person to do it," Ryan added, pridefully.

Realisation suddenly dawned upon Pam, "You didn't--"

Ryan started to hang up his jacket and moved across the room, "Who better than Jim Halpert's wonderful and artistic wife?"

Jim shrugged, sheepishly, "He accepted, by the way."

"Oh, Ryan, thank you!" Pam excitedly gave Ryan a side-hug.

Ryan smiled in response, "How about I make dinner tonight?" Jim and Pam exchanged a glance and he added, "My treat."

"Oh, Ryan, you don't have to--" Pam said.

"I insist," Ryan replied, sincerely. "I'm feeling generous today." He grinned at the Halperts before going into the kitchen without further objection. Upon seeing Drake in his high chair, Ryan excitedly greets him as well as Phillip next to him.

"I guess he's not going to take no for an answer," Jim commented, jokingly.

Pam laughed, "Yeah."

Jim and Pam sat down on the couch together.

Pam turned to him, "Did you know about this?"

"What?" Jim blinked in surprise. "Oh, the mural? Not entirely. Ryan mentioned a couple days ago that he wanted to do something special for you to repay you for all that you've done for him. He insisted that he should do something for me too, but I tried to convince him he didn't need to."

"Yeah?" Pam said. "That was nice of him."

"Yeah, it was," Jim paused. "He's actually kind of nice. You know, after getting to know him a bit."

Pam nodded in agreement, "He's changed a lot since he got Drake back. It's... nice," she pondered, and Jim couldn't help but agree.

  1. Guilt



Jim didn't expect at first that Ryan would feel remorse for what he did in the past.

One sleepless night for Jim Halpert had him out of bed at midnight and walking downstairs for a glass of water. As he went down the stairs, he noticed a light was on in the living room. As he got closer, he recognised it was Ryan, sitting on the couch.

"Can't sleep," he asked in a groggy tone from behind him.

Ryan merely shrugged.

Jim sat down next to him, "Me too."

He was met with silence and it was apparent that Jim wasn't alone in being tired as a result of the sleeplessness.

"Do you usually wake up in the middle of the night?" he asked."

"I guess so," Ryan replied, slowly. "I just get so caught up in my own thoughts that it's tough to sleep some nights."

"What kind of thoughts?" Jim implored, quickly adding, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't," Ryan told him. "I just start thinking about... things I've done. I've pretty much wasted my twenties and worst of all, I've made so many people's lives worse. I constantly took Michael for granted, manipulated Kelly, and I was really awful to you and Pam.

Jim, in his sleepy mind, was surprised by this seemingly random spurt of guilt, "How long have you felt that way?"

Ryan shrugged, "A while, maybe? I don't know. I think it was always there, but I guess I only just started realizing it just before I got Drake back."

Jim nodded, "Well, to be fair to you, those aren't that simple."

Ryan turned to face him, "How so?"

"Well," Jim started, "Michael's zeal tends to be off putting, so it's understandable that you weren't exactly receptive to his friendship. You probably just followed Dwight and Andy's example of asskissing in order to get what you wanted with him because you knew no other way how. Kelly had a tendency to be equally manipulative, from what I can tell. But, based on what you've said about your last interaction with her, she seemed to understand that you wanted a fresh start. That and you gave her a fresh start of her own. As for Pam and me... we forgive you. You could frustrate us both at times, but since you've moved with us, you've gotten better."

"You really think so?" Ryan asked, softly.

"Of course," Jim answered, sincerely. He paused for a moment. "I have to tell you something."

"What's that?" Ryan said, curious.

"Do you remember that poem you wrote for Kelly? That time you were trying to get her back from Ravi?"

"Do I..." Ryan sighed. "What about it?"

Jim took a deep breath, "Pam and I went back to the office to read it. I'm ashamed to admit it now, but we thought it might actually be and we were hoping to get a few laughs out of it. I never thought I'd admit this to you, but we actually thought it was kind of good. You were right, in a way. I don't know how Kelly would have taken it, but... we found it kind of emotional."

"Yeah?" It seemed as though the sleepiness was weighing on him. "I never thought it was that good. I was just trying to keep anyone from reading it."

"You should also know that Pam kept it," Jim revealed.

"She did?" Ryan said, surprised.

Jim nodded, "She keeps it in her art portfolio. She hasn't read it since that first time; says it's too personal. But she keeps it there.

"Huh." Ryan yawned, "Do you look at it?"

"I glance at it, same as Pam," Jim admitted. "She's right, though. It feels a little too personal to read it again."

"That's nice," Ryan nods off, his head drooping slightly.

Jim scoots closer, guiding Ryan's head to lay on his shoulder to support him. Ryan quickly fell asleep, suddenly seemingly at ease after the conversation. It's not long before Jim slips into sleep too.

  1. Love



If there was one thing both Jim and Pam _never_ expected to come out of this was to fall in love with him.

So often have Jim and Pam been rid of privacy due to the documentary of their work life. For this reason, we will allow them some privacy in their realisations and conversation with each other about the situation. Let's just say that these feelings were gradual; they did not come suddenly nor were they realised in a short amount of time. It took the Halperts many months to warm up to Ryan Howard again. It took them many weeks for them both to fully understand the gravity of their feelings and many more to finally talk to each other about it (though, not _too_ many, for as we know, the Halperts are the best of friends and cannot really keep information from each other for too long).

For context, however, it seems necessary to divulge into the events leading up to the change in their relationship with Ryan Howard.

It was a quiet night for the Halperts as they enjoyed their weekly family movie night with their children. And Drake Howard -- though, the line between the two seemed indistinguishable these days. Ryan Howard, on the other hand, had fallen asleep an hour and twenty minutes into _Monsters University_ with his son on his lap. 

When the movie ended, Jim scooped up his children, "All right, you two. Time for bed."

Cecelia and Phillip, who seemed just as tired as Ryan apparently was, were too tired to argue.

Jim looked to his wife, who nodded to him, "I'll take care of them, don't worry."

"Okay," Jim nodded and he carried his sleepy children to their rooms.

Pam cautiously picked up an equally tired Drake from his father's lap, resting him down on the couch before grabbing a blanket and carefully putting it over Ryan. She knew that his back was a lot more resilient than hers or Jim's and that he would be able to continue sleeping on the recliner without feeling too sore in the morning. Besides, she didn't want to wake either of the sleeping Howards when they both looked so exhausted. Pam picked up Drake again and carried him to his room, which he shared with Phillip.

Jim was in the room when she got there, standing by Phillip's bed where he slept peacefully. Pam supported Drake's head as she lowered him onto his bed, carefully.

"It's amazing how that kid's so... quiet," Jim mused in a hushed tone. "Considering he's Ryan's kid. Cece and Phillip were never that easy to please."

Pam laughed, quietly. "Right? Like, either Ryan has a secret gift with handling children or we had no idea what we were doing."

"Maybe it's both," Jim joked.

"Maybe."

Jim moved across the room to join his wife next to the door. He followed her gaze to the sleeping toddlers. He leaned towards her, "Have you thought about what we were talking about earlier?"

Pam stayed silent for a moment, almost contemplating her next words. "I have," she decided.

"And?"

Pam sighed softly, "Doesn't it seem... sudden? I mean, he's been staying with us for a couple of months--"

"Pam," Jim said, softly, "It's almost been a year. After spending this time with him and Drake, I know how I feel about them and I know you do too. What's the real problem?"

"I just don't want people to make assumptions," Pam admitted, barely above a whisper. "I don't want them to talk about something they have no idea about. I know how I feel too, JIm, but it wouldn't be fair to Ryan for him to get backlash for this. Nothing's even happened yet and my mother is asking a lot of questions. I just don't want for it to seem like we're _just allowing_ him into our relationship."

Jim nodded, understandingly, "I get that, Pam. I really do. Hell, if you had told me five years ago that I'd end up considering _this_ about _Ryan Howard_ , I'd think you were trying to pull my leg. We worked with Ryan for nearly ten years before we ever really got to know him. But over the course of this past year, we've gotten that once missed opportunity. The friendship that you two once had before all of that unpleasantness has finally been able to be fixed and reach its full potential. And I've finally been able to resolve the tension with him and it's _great_. If by some chance he does feel the same as we do, it's not fair to him to just string him along without saying something."

"It's not fair to him to make him our dirty little secret either," Pam countered.

"You're absolutely right, Pam," Jim whispered. "But he won't be. Whatever relationship we have with Ryan Howard is between the three of us. The only people who have to know are the ones that _we_ want to know. Ryan gets a say in that too."

Pam let out another sigh as she looked over her shoulder, "I just don't want him to get hurt after all the progress we've made."

"I understand your concerns, Pam, but he won't," Jim promised, putting his hands on her arms, comfortingly. "He's just spent so much of his life thinking that he was only temporary. With Dunder Mifflin, with Kelly," he explained. "It's about time that he knew that he's _permanent_ this time."

Pam smiled softly; it seemed as though this part of Jim's argument had gotten through to her. "All right, so how do we do this?"

Jim smiled brightly in the way he did when he anticipated something good happening, "That, my dear, we'll leave to tomorrow."

* * *

Today, Ryan noticed as he woke up on the recliner, felt different.

Maybe it was because he woke up on a _recliner_ instead of the bed in the Halperts' guest room. He was still clearly in the Halperts' home in Texas, but why he was in the living room eluded him. Until he realised that _oh yeah_ he had fallen asleep during the movie last night.

"'Morning, sleepyhead," Pam mused, passing him as she made her way to the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

Ryan stretched awkwardly, "Yeah, uh, I slept fine. And Drake..."

"--Is in his room with Phillip," Pam answered.

"Right. Thanks, Pam."

"Anytime, Ry," she replied, absentmindedly.

Ryan bit back a laugh. _That was new._ Pam never called his 'Ry;' that was usually Jim's thing even since they had resolved their previous conflicts and became friendly with each other. In fact, Pam had generally had some sort of anxious energy to her this morning.

"Hey, you all right, Pam?" Ryan asked in a half-joking otny, deciding halfway into the sentence to not include the old nickname of her maiden name. "You seem a little nervous."

Pam looked up from where she was trying to scramble some eggs, "I do? It's probably just nerves." 

"Because you have that meeting about a senior center mural today?" Ryan inquired, it dawning upon him just then that the mural was probably it.

Pam looked up in a way that suggested that the meeting had slipped her mind, "Yeah, that's it!"

Ryan, suddenly not all too convinced, figured it was best not to press. Getting up from the recliner, he asked her, "Want me to make you a cup of coffee?"

Pam nodded, "That would be lovely, Ryan, thank you."

Ryan moved over to the coffee maker, which was on the counter parallel to the stove. He started to put the pot in when Pam spoke up again.

“Ryan?”

“Yeah, Pam?”

She continued to keep her eyes on her cooking eggs, “What if… What if it were just the three of us and the kids? Here, I mean. And all of the bad blood in the past was forgotten?”

Ryan turned his head slightly over his shoulder, “I think I’d like that, Pam.”

He still couldn’t see her, but he almost knew that she was smiling at that.

Jim then came down the stairs, carrying Phillip and Drake. Cecelia was waddling right down after him. 

“‘Morning, you two,” Jim smiled.

“‘Morning,” they greeted him back.

Breakfast that morning seemed normal enough, but to Ryan, something still felt off. The babysitter came at eight as she always did, and the three of them got in the Halpert car. The drive also felt different to Ryan. He noted, not entirely unpleasantly, that he felt more involved in the conversation. Jim dropped Pam off at the senior center and the conversation continued more easily than they had before. Jim seemed equally as chiper at lunch as he did during the car ride and the excitement continued when the end of the day came and Pam announced that she had sealed the job.

Dinner was, for the most part, the same as the rest of the day; seemingly normal, with an odd undertone. Ryan helped Jim clean the dishes after dinner as he usually did and it was Pam’s turn to put the children to bed and read to them.

It wasn’t long before the three adults decided it was getting late. They went upstairs together; Ryan’s room was just past Jim and Pam’s.

Pam smiled, “Goodnight, Ryan.”

Ryan smiled back, “‘Night, Pam.”

Pam slipped into the bedroom, leaving Jim and Ryan in the hall. Ryan was just about to head to his own room and bid Jim goodnight too, when Jim reached out to him.

“Hey, Ryan?”

He turned around, “Yeah, Jim?”

Jim looked at him for a moment, contemplative, before putting a way hand on Ryan’s hip and kissing him gently. Ryan gasped a little in surprise and froze, but he found his head slowly following Jim’s when he parted.

Jim made no further move, but added, with that knowing smile of his, “‘Night, Ry.”

“‘Night, Jim,” Ryan whispered as he watched him disappear into the bedroom. His heart hammered as he stood, dumbfounded in the hall. Eventually, warm-faced and shaking slightly, he fumbled into his own room, head spinning. After a while, he drifted off into sleep.

The next morning, Ryan woke up, almost -- but not quite -- forgetting last night’s incident. Confused and conflicted, Ryan didn’t know what else he could do but get out of bed. He closed the door of his room as he exited. Just as he was about to pass Jim and Pam’s bedroom, Pam left the room, nearly running into him. He glanced in and guessed by the lack of his presence, that Jim was already downstairs.

“Good morning, Ryan!” Pam beamed, and Ryan thought, painfully, that he didn’t deserve to have her look at him that brightly after what he had let happen. 

“‘Morning, Pam,” Ryan said, trying to smile.

She smiled at him, no less brightly. To his shock, she lifted herself up, to make herself just a little taller, and placed a brief kiss on his lips.

She smiled at him again, almost pleased with his shocked expression, “I’ll see you downstairs?”  
Ryan nodded, speechless, “Yeah… I’ll be right now.”

She nodded, satisfied and hurried off downstairs. 

Ryan stood there for a while longer, trying to regain himself more than anything. A distant thought in his mind reminded him of the words of Oscar Martinez to him several years ago. Maybe that was it; maybe that was what was going on with Jim and Pam, and his ultimate solution to everything. It seemed about time to finally put the label to good use.

Ryan chuckled. Yeah, that was it. But he could talk to Jim and Pam about that some other time. Right now, he thought he smelt pancakes.


End file.
